The dirty little secret about college has long been that lots of people start but many don’t finish. 14.9% of American adults have graduate degrees, 23.7% have bachelor’s degrees, and 10.7% have associate’s degrees. That leaves a majority (50.7%) without college degrees. Notably, 14.0% of the population (or about the same as our number of advanced-degree holders) has some college credit but no degree. That’s well over 30 million people.
■ College, it has been well-established, isn’t the right path for everyone. But other paths require follow-through, as well. The attrition rate through training for the skilled trades is huge: A majority who start will not complete their programs. Sometimes a weed-out process is a good thing; if a career path isn’t the right fit for a person, it’s easier to learn that and make a course correction at age 19 than at age 39.
■ But it’s useful to recognize that sometimes outcomes reflect habits of character more than anything about intelligence or ability. Sometimes, you just have to stick with things in order to succeed. Not that this is a new observation. In an essay specifically titled “The College Graduate and Public Life”, Theodore Roosevelt said, “He will meet with checks and will make many mistakes; but if he perseveres, he will achieve a measure of success and will do a measure of good such as is never possible to the refined, cultivated, intellectual men who shrink aside from the actual fray.”
■ There are many good reasons why a person might quit one pursuit or another. But there have to be just as many good reasons to stick with things, even when rewards seem fuzzy or far away. Lots of people are getting the messages about starting education and vocational training. But maybe we need to focus more attention on building the habits that will keep more of them from quitting. Personal habits aren’t the only factor involved, but they’re indisputably part of the story.